Winter Ethno Estonia 2026

Winter Ethno Estonia is back… and already for its seventh edition!!! Let’s hope that there will be lots of snow and people to celebrate this beautiful adventure! 🙂 

Winter Ethno will take place from the 30th of January until the 8th of February 2026 at Kiidi Tourist Farm in Võrumaa. It’s a magical scenic place in South-East Estonia where we can spend a lot of time outside and in the sauna, playing music and dancing, learning about the unique traditions of rural Estonia and enjoying the beauty of an Estonian winter. Together we will visit local schools to give a couple of concerts to the Estonian youth, in addition to which we will also have two concerts for the public – one in the local area and the other one in the folk music capital of Estonia – Viljandi! 

ARTISTIC MENTORS

This year’s amazing artistic mentors will be Nils Peschanski and Regina Mänd!

NILS PESCHANSKI

Nils Peschanski is a french musician, based in Paris. Since graduating from conservatoire with a degree in jazz piano he has been exploring the potentialities that music can offer in diverse social and musical contexts. He performed across Europe as a touring musician with his bands Le Vasco, Global Network, Noflipe, Samba de la Muerte and Çhâñt Élečtrónïqùe in all kind of situations from the alternative Slovenian Floating Castle festival to renowned festivals such as the Transmusicales de Rennes or The Great Escape in Brighton. 

He’s equally comfortable composing soundtracks for film and TV as he’s teaching music through different kinds of institutions (conservatories, JMI projects like Ethno and Youth Cultural Center). 

Fun fact, he also recently opened for the French pop icon Étienne Daho on his arena tour across France, along with his duo Global Network.

REGINA MÄND

Regina Mänd is a fiddler, composer and teacher, working mainly in the traditional music scene. Two years ago she graduated from University of Gothenburg’s Academy of Music and Drama and is active as a solo performer and in groups such as reginamandness, Duo Mänd/Krüsban and LØYLY Orchestra. Right now she is living in Tartu as a freelance musician and working in Heino Eller music school as the head of the folk music department and a fiddle teacher.

ACCOMMODATION

We will stay at the local tourist farm, where we sleep in shared rooms: the farm provides us with beds, so no need to bring mattresses.

The food will be made locally by our team, and you can help us out with that, too!

We also remind you that February in Estonia can be around 0°C to -25°,C and (hopefully!) there will be (lots of?) snow. We never know what is actually going to happen, but just so you know, the house will be warm and cosy!

The Tourist Farm page: https://www.kiidi.ee/et/

LOCATION

The camp will take place in southern Estonia which is about a 3-hour drive from the  Tallinn airport. First, we will meet in Võru on January 30 at around 5 pm! There are quite a few buses going from Tallinn/Tartu to Võru (ticket prices are around 15eur) but if you have any problems with the transport, please let us know.

On February 7, we will give our last concert at the Estonian Traditional Music Center in Viljandi (AKA the Folk Music Capital of Estonia, yay!). After that, we’ll stay there for the last evening and the next day’s goodbye ceremonies. Our biggest request is that you don’t leave the camp before that time so we can keep our amazing Ethno-bubble strong and give the best final concert.

FEES AND REGISTRATION

There are 25 spots for participants. All musicians aged 18–30 are welcome. The camp fee is 340 €. 

The fee includes:

• transport during the Ethno camp
• food (breakfast, lunch, dinner, snacks)
• accommodation (ps. if you arrive in Estonia already on the 30th of January and have trouble finding accommodation, please let us know – we can help you!)

NB! The organizers will choose the participants according to the needs of the orchestra. Ethnos aim to include as many people from different backgrounds as possible while keeping the musical level of the orchestra as high as possible.

It should be noted that all this considered, we have to exclude some people! (For instance, last year we had to say no to half of our applicants purely due to the lack of space in our camp place!) We are not obligated to further explain our decision. 

Registration will remain open until December 1, or until all spots are filled. So, be sure to register now!